Noster has launched its first postbiotics product based on decades of research
on gut microorganisms including lactic acid bacteria and related lipid
metabolites.
ìMankind has come a long way in understanding the causes and
treatment of human ailments since Hippocrates proposed over
2,000 years ago that all disease begins in the gut,î says Kohey Kitao,
CEO of Noster Inc., an innovative Kyoto-based company specializing
in the development of therapeutic drugs to treat diseases by
controlling and manipulating gut microorganisms and their
metabolites. ìWe established Noster in May 2020 with the goal of
ëconnecting life and the gut microbiome.í Our in-house expertise
has evolved tremendously since my first chance encounter more
than 10 years ago with gut microbes and fatty acid metabolites
in the human gut. Now, in 2021, we have successfully launched
HYA-50, our first postbiotic product under our CUMEC brand,
which stands for ëcutting-edge microbiome care.í It is a functional
supplement that is the direct result of Nosterís knowledge of the gut
microbial lipid metabolite 10-hydroxy-cis-12-octadecenoic acid (10-
HOE, also called HYA) and is so named because it contains 50% HYA.
Our research shows that taking three capsules of HYA-50 before
meals improves insulin resistance and controls blood glucose levels.
This treatment heralds the beginning of an exciting new chapter in
our story of the benefits of gut microorganism for human health.îEmbracing serendipity, realizing potential, and
overcoming challengesThe scientific know-how accumulated by Noster is based on long-
term, multidisciplinary collaborations with experts in academia.
An interest in the health benefits of HYA is one thing, but turning
that interest into a viable product is something quite different.
The companyís first major challenge was establishing a process for
mass-producing HYA.
ìI first became aware of the potential health benefits of HYA
during serendipitous meetings with two academics,î recalls Kitao.
ìThe first was with Jun Ogawa, a professor at Kyoto University,
who was excited by his groupís discovery that HYA is produced
by gut microbes in the intestinal tract and transferred to the host
( 1 ). Next, I remember long conversations about HYA with Ikuo
Kimura, now also a professor at Kyoto University, whose group
made important fundamental contributions to our understanding
of the potential role of HYA for the treatment of chronic type 2
diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, and insulin resistance in
mouse models ( 2 , 3 ). I wanted to explore potential pharmaceutical
applications of these scientific findings but realized that the first
hurdle to overcome for drug discovery applications was producing
HYA in large volumes. This was around 10 years ago. It was a
daunting task, but we took up the challenge!î
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